Every party game app I'd used before building this one wanted an account, a lobby website, or a subscription. I wanted the opposite: plug a laptop into the TV, run one command, and have everyone's phone connected in under thirty seconds — no internet required once the LAN is up. That constraint ends up dictating almost every architectural decision in GameNight : a Node/Express/Socket.io server that runs five real-time party games — a Mafia-style social deduction game I call Mongolpuri, UNO, ...